


I Never Have

by ALittleMadSometimes



Series: Bates Motel Prompts [2]
Category: Bates Motel (2013)
Genre: Angst, Break Up, F/M, Feels, Mourning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-11
Updated: 2017-08-11
Packaged: 2018-12-14 02:58:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11774085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ALittleMadSometimes/pseuds/ALittleMadSometimes
Summary: Emma felt tears pool in her eyes. They were there, suddenly, almost like she’d been holding them back for a long time.





	I Never Have

**Author's Note:**

> A Nemma story for the prompts: "I don't love you. I never have." for my Bates Motel request blog:
> 
> https://batesmotelask.tumblr.com/post/161786867037/nsfw-prompt-list
> 
>  
> 
> Set during s4x10, "Norman".

Emma knocked on the door and waited patiently. Rocked back onto her heels in the silence and waited even more patiently. Then she knocked again just in case. Her hands came down to smooth out her coat and she tugged her sleeves over her fingers. It was a habit from the intense cold but she suspected she’d developed it after the surgery, feeling lighter but also naked without her oxygen tank. 

“Come on, Norman, it’s cold out here!” she called.

Finally she saw movement behind the sheer curtain and the door opened to reveal a freshly showered Norman. 

She smiled, warmth flooding her at the sight of him. “Hey!”

Norman stared. He didn’t smile back. 

Emma’s smile waned. “Norman?”

He shook his head. When he looked up, his eyes were a little clearer. “Hello, Emma.”

“Can- can I come in? It’s cold and I know this isn’t a good time but I wanted to be with you right now-”

“No,” Norman said curtly. “Now is definitely not a good time.”

Emma balled her hands into fists inside her jacket, folded her arms defensively around herself. “I just- I wanted to talk to you about something. And you don’t have to answer right away because when we decided it, it was before …”

Before. Before Norma’s death. There was no need for either of them to say it. They both understood.

Norman looked behind him and back to her. “Look Emma,” he sighed. He didn’t elaborate.

Emma shifted, feeling cold and uncomfortable in a way she hadn’t since she first got with Norman. “I won’t expect you to decide anything now,” Emma said slowly, conscious of the fact that he hadn’t invited her inside yet. “But you know with the new lungs and all- my dad wanted me to be closer to a good hospital.”

Norman nodded, but his eyes were blank.

“And so I was wondering if-” Emma stopped. She suddenly felt silly. She couldn’t ask Norman to go with her so soon after his mother’s funeral. The plan was to let him come when he left ready but even telling him she was moving, that she hoped he would go with her, was too much. Emma shook her hand out of her sleeve and reached up with numb fingers to tuck her hair behind her ear. “I- I want you to go with me, Norman. To Seattle. I mean- not right now. Eventually. I just- I really want you to come with me.” 

It was out there. She waited.

Norman sighed. “Emma.”

Emma swallowed, feeling her heart sink. “Yeah?”

“I’m sorry, but I think you need to leave, okay?” 

“What?”

Norman’s face was impassive, his eyes dark and unreadable. “We can’t see each other anymore.”

Emma felt tears pool in her eyes. They were there, suddenly, almost like she’d been holding them back for a long time. “You’re breaking up with me?”

Things were supposed to be better. Things were supposed to be better after the surgery. First the only mother-figure she’d ever had. And now Norman. 

“I can’t be with you, Emma,” he said. “I wanted to make this work, but . . . I don’t love you. I never have.”

Norman looked behind him again, into the house and back to her again, quickly. His mouth trembled. “I’m sorry.” He smiled. It was a little forced, but at the same time, it felt more like him. More like her boyfriend. “Goodbye, Emma.”

“G-goodbye, Norman!” she got out just before he closed the door on her. 

Emma stood on the porch with tears tracking wet, cold streaks down her face. She thought about knocking again. She didn’t.


End file.
